According to Xinhua News Agency, on February 8, the border police in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong province detained the illegal immigrants, 88 men and 27 women.

The Vietnamese, aged between 17 and 28, were transported to China on 3 buses, the police said.

They had sneaked across the border into neighboring the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region 3 days earlier, Xinhua News quoted sources with the Guangdong frontier defense forces as saying.

They traveled to Guangdong to look for work opportunities, the police said, adding that they had also arrested 6 Chinese drivers for participation in the smuggling.

According to China’s Southern Metropolis Daily, any entity that is found hiring foreign workers illegally will be fined 10,000 yuan, or US$1,600, and will be forced to pay all expenses related to the expulsion of illegal immigrants.